Words & Worth
by BellatrixLestrangey
Summary: Azula pampers and spoils Sokka to make up for arguments. All Sokka wants is a vocal apology.


Sokka dipped himself into the bathtub. Azula was spoiling him. He should have guessed that she would. He has never bathed in such luxury before. Bathwaters in the tribes were usually dirty and smelled of the musk that they cleansed.

The palace baths constantly seemed to cycle filthy water out and had the perfume of a garden. They were always just warm enough to be able to slip into a deep state of relaxation.

The soaps that Azula left him were just as fragrant and were pleasantly smooth against his skin. The soap he scrubbed himself with had smelled of mango and pineapple, just as he had asked. And the shampoo always left him feeling cleaner than he thought possible.

If he was lucky, she would join him in the bath. That day was one such day. He felt her fingers trailing over his shoulders before he saw her. He hadn't even heard her enter, he usually doesn't. Azula, he has learned, is simply a quiet woman.

She slid into the water and took his hand. Every now and again, her lips would fall on his neck and his chest and his bath would turn from a moment of relaxation to one of time it would not. She simply took the shampoo and ran it through his hair; the sensation was nice so he didn't tell her that he had already washed it himself.

He decided that he ought to spoil her for a change. "Here." He spoke and drizzled some shampoo onto his palm. With the other hand he motioned for Azula to sit in front of him.

"Don't snag it." Was all she replied. He supposed he should be thankful, this would be the first time that she let him touch her hair. She was rather fussy about it.

He gave a soft smile, "I'll be careful." He scrubbed at her hair until he found it clean to what he imagined would be her liking. "How's that?"

She ran her fingers through her hair. "That should do." She replied, leaning into him, her back against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her.

Sleeping arrangements were pampering too. Her hair was still dripping as she padded across the room. Her nightgown had spots of water from where her hair had fallen over it. She sat herself upon the bed and patted the mattress, "join me?" It fell somewhere between a command and an invitation.

"You're going to have to work on that."

She tilted her head.

"Not sounding so...demanding." Sokka clarified.

Azula rolled her eyes.

He laid upon the mattress next to her, she remained upright and rested a hand on his thigh. The pillow was push underneath his head. Probably the softest thing he had ever slept on. In general, Azula's bed was cozy; no wonder she never seemed sleepy.

Eventually she stooped over to kiss him upon the chest. A pleasant tingle fluttered in his stomach. He felt the matress shift as Azula laid down and draped her arms and head across his chest. He brought his hand to her head, content to hold her quietly.

"Should I call for the servants?" She mumbled, languidly tapping her finger over his exposed skin. He knew that she was referring to dinner, another means of spoiling him.

"Please." He chuckled. He could never really resist the exotic foods she offered him. He'd tasted varieties of fruits and vegetables he'd never even heard of and the meats were cooked and spiced to a taste he didn't know they could have.

He wasn't surprised that the princess was treating him so kindly that night. Azula tended to make up for fights through material means. In general she seemed to pamper him to alleviate guilt. Sokka was faintly aware that a good lot of what she had done for him early on was done to make up for years of bad blood from wartimes.

She seemed to be stuck on that.

He sighed to himself, it was beginning to settle in that he wished that she would try other ways. Vocal ways.

To some degree, material things felt like a cop out.

He ran his hands through her hair, "you know that you can just say sorry, right?"

Azula blinked at him.

"It isn't that hard."

She frowned. Maybe he was pushing his luck. Part of him wanted to retreat because none of him wanted to get into it with her a second time that day. He felt her pointer tap against his ribcage twice more before she nuzzled closer and looped her arms around him tighter.

"Tell me that you're sorry." He persisted. "I always stay it to you."

She refused to say anything at all, instead opting to rest her head against the crook of his neck. He almost pulled out of her grasp. Just before he did, it dawned on him that perhaps this was her way of saying sorry without expensive gifts.

It would make sense, physical gestures seemed to come more easily to her than vocally casting her pride away.

"I guess this works too." He softly patted her back, maybe he was letting her off too easily. But it was a step in the right direction, loving gestures instead of bribery-albeit affectionate bribery.

Azula, for a while, did little more. He caught only the movement of her lips.

"What was that?" He asked.

Her lips parted again and he rolled his eyes. So she could mouth an apology, but it would seem that she couldn't quite get the words off of her tongue.

It probably would have been more fitting to tell her that it was alright, or that the apology was accepted. Instead he replied, "thank you."

Sokka felt her fingers lock with his own.


End file.
